Space Race (Space Race 1) by Nathan Hystad (book recommendations for young adults .TXT) 📕

“It’s definitely not from the Corporations. There are no welds, which has been a safety feature on every ship. Corporate-mandated access hatch for repair drones.” She tapped the screen with a fingernail. “The ship doesn’t have one.”

“It could be a prototype,” Holland suggested.

“That’s what I thought all along. The text could be a cipher.” I’d had my suspicions it wasn’t from Earth, but they’d been buried under worry for my job, and then the Race.

“I don’t think so,” R11 said. “I’m familiar with many ciphers, four hundred and forty-nine from my count across your human history, and never has the text looked similar to this.”

“R11, do you have translation capabilities?” I asked him.

“Are you inquiring if I can somehow read this?” R11 replied.

He was a strange robot. “Yes. That’s what I’m after.”

“May I?” he asked, and Jade gave up her seat. The chair groaned under his weight, and a connection relay extruded from his finger. He pressed it into the keypad’s outlet, and the screen began scrolling through data faster than any human could analyze it.

Holland looked nervous. “What do you see?”

“The text is layered with numerical equations. The universal language. I believe I may be able to determine what the message says,” R11 told us.

“I don’t know if I should be thrilled or worried.” I glanced at the cockpit. The ranks were the same as we neared the last Ring before our stoppage at Mars.

“How long?” Jade asked the robot.

“I’m unsure. Let me transfer this to my station, and I’ll keep working at it.” R11 took the Coin and returned to his seat across the bridge.

My nerves were twitchy after day one in the Race, and now this message from a distant system was enough to push me over the edge. I wanted to concentrate on winning, but there were so many distractions.

The rumor of the Primaries merging to put the others out of business and control everything clung to my mind, along with Eclipse’s plan to attack and prevent this from occurring. Throw in the strange mossy creatures on Eris, and the alien ship, and things were even more complicated. The Race was expected to take nearly a week, and that countdown felt like it was factoring in more things than just crowning a winner to Proxima’s rights.

Lotus sped through the checkpoint, and the announcers were gushing over how great the rest would be for the top teams. Once we landed on Mars, we’d have about ten hours before the Pod Race began, giving us a chance to touch base with Bryson and hopefully recharge.

When we were only a few minutes from the Ring, Luther’s head poked up from the deck below, and he climbed the rungs, yawning as he walked up to me. “What did I miss?”

“Nothing. Still in sixth. Oh, Jade managed to receive a message from aliens. R11’s working on deciphering it now.” I could tell from his expression that he thought I was pulling his leg.

“Sure, and I just dreamt that I was the new Lead Chair.”

“Go take a look.” I indicated R11’s station, and Luther sauntered over.

“You’re serious?”

“Yes.”

“What does this mean?” He looked lost, but it was Holland who answered.

“We’re about to make contact.” He smiled, like this was the plan the entire time.

 

 

 

Sixteen

I used to love Mars. Sage and Lotus had done a wonderful job creating cities despite the obvious challenges. They’d managed to give the planet an atmosphere that allowed for limited crop growth, but the place had never lived up to their expectations. Now, as we entered the manufactured environment, I could see that they’d terminated city funding.

An area that had once been hectares of farmland was empty, no more workers or drones constantly tending to the unreliable fields. Even the cities themselves looked worn and unkempt. The wind and temperatures on Mars were harsh, making everything wear much faster than on Earth or the Moon.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Mars was eventually abandoned entirely. Holland, on the other hand, was bouncing off the walls. Tomorrow was his big day, and he seemed more excited than nervous.

“Mars. Have you ever seen such a beautiful place?” he asked.

“I haven’t been here before.” Jade stared at the surface, and I wondered what it was like to witness the red planet for the first time. Surely she saw promise and adventure where I found failure and resentment.

This section of the planet was owned by Lotus, and it showed in the style of construction. They opted for shorter buildings, with curved edges and colorful designs. Each structure was connected by tubes, allowing people to walk through the entire city indoors. The only independent structure was the main Lotus satellite office. I’d delivered some private materials there in the past, in my early days with Sage.

“Mars is a dump,” Luther said. “The factories are rough. It feels like none of the security staff enforces anything, and the Corps do some shady business. The Sage city is nicer, but not by much.”

“You worked for Lotus. How often did their CEO visit?” Holland asked him.

“My nondisclosure stipulates I can’t discuss him or the company, but…between us, never. He loathed it more than anyone. Said it was a waste of time and resources, but they had to put on a show. When you’re the third largest Corporation on Earth, and you have the rights to almost half of Mars, you don’t squander it.”

My dad was here on Mars, and I hated to hear about the appalling conditions. I still hadn’t been updated on his transfer to SeaTech and decided to send Bryson a message the moment we landed. We’d been in contact with our boss over the duration of the flight, but only in small doses. He wanted us to focus and not be distracted by him.

Race camera drones followed us, and I spotted two of them hovering near the front of my Racer. Being constantly filmed wasn’t something I was used to. It was so invasive. The camera drones were diminutive, the size of a